Evolution and growth of the ECHO (Enriching Communication skills for Health professionals in Oncofertility) program: a 5-year study in the training of oncofertility professionals

PURPOSE: AYAs with cancer have unique psychosocial needs, with reproductive health being a primary concern. The ECHO training program provides reproductive health communication training to individuals providing care for AYAs with cancer. The purpose of this project is to describe the growth of ECHO and evaluate changes in learner engagement over a 5-year period. METHODS: ECHO is an 8-week online training program offered annually, with the program including learning modules, discussion topics and reflections, and synchronous discussions. Reflection quality scores and number of words were compared between the 5 cohorts using ANOVA with a p < .05 level of significance. Descriptive statistics summarized module topics, reflections, and synchronous discussions. RESULTS: The average number of reflections per unique learner increased each year (1.4 in cohort 1 vs 4.1 in cohort 5), as did average length and quality of reflections (72.1 words in cohort 1 vs 203.4 words in cohort 5, p < .0001; score of 1.21 in cohort 1 vs 4.46 in cohort 5, p < .0001). The percentage of learners in attendance at synchronous discussions increased between cohorts 4 and 5 (4.8% of learners in cohort 4 vs 18.8% of learners cohort 5). CONCLUSIONS: The ECHO program has seen significant growth and improvement in learner engagement over a 5-year period. This is particularly important given that student learning outcomes in online courses can be predicted by the level of engagement with online content. IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: As fertility and reproductive health remain a top life goal and discussion priority for AYAs surviving cancer, increasing clinical competencies of AHPs in oncofertility is essential.